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Building Your DIY Conservatory

Our modular conservatories can be assembled without a specialist - and if you have good DIY skills, building one is something that you can do by yourself saving thousands of pounds in the process. The simple steps shown in our easy to follow illustrated guide below will provide you with all of the instructions that you will need to know about how to build your own DIY Conservatory.

The site of the proposed conservatory build. Check that there are no obsacles such as drain pipes, boiler flues or extractor fan outlets where the conservatory will be built.

For construction work to begin A trench is excavated to a minimum depth of 600mm for the footings. The ground level within the boundries of the trench is also reduced to at least 300 mm below the Damp Proof Course (DPC). As you can see in the above image, on this project the excavation has exposed an underground pipe.

Concrete lintels need to be used to protect the drainage pipe from being crushed. Additional steel mesh is also introduced to the concrete foundations for additional support.

Stakes are driven into the ground and set at 450mm below the Damp Proof Course and 300mm below the external ground level. Concrete is then poured into the trench to a depth of 150mm.

The concrete is then floated forming a level surface 450mm below the house Damp Proof Course.

The inner leaf of the cavity wall is built up to floor level, usually the houses Damp Proof Course .

Hardcore is laid to a depth of at least 100mm and compacted to form the base layer of the slab. Compactors are easy to use and cheap to hire.

The Aluminium ridge is ventilated and ready to accept the clip fit PVCu internal cladding. If a fan or ceiling lights are required the cables may be concealed behind the cladding. The vented ridge minimizes the formation of condensation.

The PVCu internal fascia is clipped onto the eaves beam to complete the internal finishing trims. Any other internal work is then to be undertaken once the roof is in place. The windows should be left open at this stage to allow the concrete floor to dry out.

The completed self build conservatory. Now you can enjoy finishing off the interior to your own taste.